Shifting Sands through Innovation - the Qatar Experience

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Sponsored by Softlink

Karen Joc
Softlink

The Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) is a joint venture between Cornell University and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The Foundation’s premiere project is Education City, a multi-institutional campus which aims for progressive education, state of the art technology and cutting edge research. WCMC-Q is part of Cornell University, and the first American medical school to offers an American MD outside of the US. The college is housed in a state of the art facility which opened in 2002 and the college’s mission promotes the development and use of technology in this deliberately digital environment. WCMC-Q’s Distributed eLibrary directive is to provide both services and resources beyond the confines of the traditional library space and plays an integral role in contributing to the college’s mission.

This address will outline the experience, opportunities and the challenges of working as a medical librarian from within this deliberately digital environment. Some areas of discussion will include: the challenges of a start up environment; living and working in a developing country; idiosyncrasies of a diverse student population; the impact of the technological drive of the college on library services; librarian class attendance, clinical librarianship and outreach from beyond the library’s walls; the realities of virtual reference, roving reference, chat and IM and the role librarians play in curriculum integration and evidence based medicine.

Responding to the Future

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Sponsored by Thomson Gale

Jennifer Peasley
Macquarie University Library

Macquarie University is currently undergoing a number of significant changes, including a review of the academic structure of the University, the establishment of a new medical school and planning for a new Library building. The challenge for Macquarie University Library is to focus on the future as well as the present – to anticipate the impact of these changes and the needs of current and future users in planning our service model, so that we can provide the services and support required.

One of the biggest challenges is planning for a new building which will not open until 2010: what environments will our users want to work in and how can we capitalise on technological developments to deliver quality services when, where and how our users need them? Working through the possibilities provides us with an opportunity to explore how we might structure and develop our workforce, ensure quality, and develop and trial new services and delivery methods, making use of Web 2.0 technologies. This paper will explore the potential requirements of our users, their physical and virtual environments and how the Library is planning to develop new approaches to service delivery to meet their needs.